New Tour 2014 Set List

Been a while since i last posted on here but i have wanted to say this for a long time, i realise being a fan site that a lot of people might not like what i say but i will say it anyway as i know it's not just a view held by me but a lot of long time Elbow fans i know.

I have been a massive fan of Elbow since their first album came out and have been to see them live about 9 or 10 times. I personally prefer the earlier stuff which i found more challenging a listen, more creative and experimental etc but i like all Elbow have done.

My issue is with the set list of their gigs in recent years, the last 4 or 5 times i have seen them which was during tours for TSSK and BARB the band seem to have largely ignored their first two albums, i realise that when you are promoting a new album that you will play a lot of songs from it and that is fine but i feel that the band seem to just cater for the new found fans in recent years during their gigs, i'm lucky if i get to hear more than one song from the first few albums. It's been very noticable how the crowd at these arena gigs has changed in terms of age and musical tastes, it's obvious to me and others that a lot of people are there based on One Day Like This being such a big hit and probably never heard of the band before that so i realise that the band don't want to alienate them by playing loads of stuff they don't like but what is wrong with for example playing 6 songs off the new album they are touring and then playing 3 songs off each of their previous albums? So there for catering for old and new fans alike? If running time was an issue then maybe a bit less chat between songs? Yes we all like Guy's chat but you could probably get 6 extra songs in with a bit less of that and more songs? It's just that i have came away from recent tours feeling disappointed and that i have seen the same gig 4 times rather than each gig being a new fresh experience.

Sorry to sound like a moaner but i think my point is a valid one and a few people i know who use to like Elbow have said the same thing, i have a ticket for the next tour and am asking please please please please shake up the set list and make the gig a fresher edgier experience, earlier songs as well as later ones???? I have seen many bands over the years and most of them play a broad selection of all of their back catalogue.

Long Time Elbow fan.....

Jason

Jason wrote:

Been a while since i last posted on here but i have wanted to say this for a long time, i realise being a fan site that a lot of people might not like what i say but i will say it anyway as i know it's not just a view held by me but a lot of long time Elbow fans i know.

I have been a massive fan of Elbow since their first album came out and have been to see them live about 9 or 10 times. I personally prefer the earlier stuff which i found more challenging a listen, more creative and experimental etc but i like all Elbow have done.

My issue is with the set list of their gigs in recent years, the last 4 or 5 times i have seen them which was during tours for TSSK and BARB the band seem to have largely ignored their first two albums, i realise that when you are promoting a new album that you will play a lot of songs from it and that is fine but i feel that the band seem to just cater for the new found fans in recent years during their gigs, i'm lucky if i get to hear more than one song from the first few albums. It's been very noticable how the crowd at these arena gigs has changed in terms of age and musical tastes, it's obvious to me and others that a lot of people are there based on One Day Like This being such a big hit and probably never heard of the band before that so i realise that the band don't want to alienate them by playing loads of stuff they don't like but what is wrong with for example playing 6 songs off the new album they are touring and then playing 3 songs off each of their previous albums? So there for catering for old and new fans alike? If running time was an issue then maybe a bit less chat between songs? Yes we all like Guy's chat but you could probably get 6 extra songs in with a bit less of that and more songs? It's just that i have came away from recent tours feeling disappointed and that i have seen the same gig 4 times rather than each gig being a new fresh experience.

Sorry to sound like a moaner but i think my point is a valid one and a few people i know who use to like Elbow have said the same thing, i have a ticket for the next tour and am asking please please please please shake up the set list and make the gig a fresher edgier experience, earlier songs as well as later ones???? :)I have seen many bands over the years and most of them play a broad selection of all of their back catalogue.

Long Time Elbow fan.....

Jason

I think Jason, most long time Elbow fans would agree with you, certainly on here anyway......I agree about Guy totally, he went from having the BEST inbetween song chit chat and relationship with the audience, to at times, well overdoing it on the last tour - I don't actually mind the runway aspect to the live set, though it detracts from Guy playing the guitar, which I'd like to see come back into play when the tour starts. And you're right, less OTT crowd interaction can mean more tunes.

I appreciate the more records your bring out, the harder it is to please everyone, as ideally, you'd like to play something from each of them.

Here's hoping for a return to the live set of 'Newborn', 'Powder Blue' & maybe EVEN 'My Very Best' when they play in Liverpool (don't care about the rest of the dates, haha !)

I'll say one thing about the Elbow crowds - they are a respectful bunch and know when to 'whip it up' and when to 'keep schtum'.....

i was hoping someone was gonna bring this topic up. i agree wholeheartedly with everything that has been written by the previous two posters... i had a massive pet lip at the first BARB gig when they dropped Newborn, but that was my problem. i agree that guy's banter has become too freddie mercury for my liking, listening to the live album confirms this - but then again its not 1000 in the Newcastle uni basement any more... again, my problem...

my major beef, and this crosses both the live and new album debate is that i personally think that the Elbow tracks i love the best, are the tracks that require (certainly live) guy to play the guitar - something he has not needed to do with the output of the last two albums. on the live album his banter refers to him putting off picking the guitar up for leaders...

i'll love and enjoy whatever the lads do, which is the odd juxtaposition i take with them, but i would love just once to for them to drop Red, or Fallen Angel or something of that ilk onto a largely unsuspecting audience. (tin hat on) i would also not blink an eye if they never played One Day again...

Thanks for the replies to my post, it's good to know some people on the fan sites largely feel the same as me, if my memory serves me right i believe some of the band read posts on here? If so then i really hope they take note of what's being said.

As i've said previously, i understand that you must play more of whatever new album is being promoted but the time has surely come now to leave behind celebrating the success of TSSK which is how it's felt at recent gigs with the hand waving, lighters in the air moments, nostalgic feel to the gigs, songs played being mostly from their last couple of albums and start doing what most established bands do which is play an equal amount of songs from all previous albums.

I too miss Newborn live LOADS!

Even Station Approach, which i think is a great track, seems to have changed in their live set, i remember first seeing them play it in Camden, it was the first song they played and it had a real electric, emotional feel to it and was taken very seriously by the band, now when they play it somehow that feel is missing, it's like a let's all have a sing song moment and wave our hands, smiling away, which to me takes away something from the song.

Maybe i'm rambling on now lol.....

Jason

Jason wrote:

Thanks for the replies to my post, it's good to know some people on the fan sites largely feel the same as me, if my memory serves me right i believe some of the band read posts on here? If so then i really hope they take note of what's being said.

Jason

i think in the pre-twitter days they did - i doubt craig does now... don't think too many fans even read these posts in these heady twitter days...   

Been a while since I posted here too, but I just wanted to say THANKYOU to Jason, errant and My Bury Vest for this topic.
Its why I have to think very hard about whether I make the effort to go to see them gig anymore, will I actually enjoy it? this, and the way management handle ticket sales/venues.
Gone are the days when we could request a greatly missed song to the band on a message board thread and anticipate that it just might be dropped in to the set list.
In their rehearsals now for the new tour, I wonder if they get bored themselves, of rehearsing 'one day like this?' or do they still think that surprising us with the return of a song like 'Bitten by the tail fly' the once, at an arena gig in 2009 was a big mistake?
The warm up gig may be their only time to 'try out' anything different from their recent comfort zone. Even the release of a few of their b sides on album didn't make any of those songs get played live, and most of the latest fans didn't realise that they were old b sides and thought they were new songs.
Looking forward to the new album songs that get chosen to play live and heres hoping that the rest of the set is a bit different now from the last few years, especially as its all on the Jodrell bank Live anyway.

lucky with disease wrote:

Looking forward to the new album songs that get chosen to play live and heres hoping that the rest of the set is a bit different now from the last few years, especially as its all on the Jodrell bank Live anyway.

I'm kind of hanging onto the idea that now there is a live album out there, that they can draw a line under the previous two album\tour cycles and flex their wings? i did notice a vine video from craig that had guy pretending to play a guitar (mark was actually playing in the background) as if had been rehearsing with it?

Couldn't agree more with the general consensus here. Guy's between song banter is great, but I've grown a little tired of the "Let's see those hands"/"Hands everyone"/"Hands..." instructions. I like my audience participation to be a little more spontaneous! Probably regret it, but I haven't bought a ticket for this tour (yet). Again, a mix up of the set-list would be good, throw in 'Red', 'Newborn', 'Fugitive Motel' or 'Grace Under Pressure' now and again. Not a great comparison due to their hugely extensive back catalogue, but a band like The Cure chop and change live sets, adding in obscurities. Same with Pixies (a better comparison, quantity of albums-wise) who'll happily miss off supposed 'crowd-pleasers' and play massively different set-lists on a nightly basis. Might be totally wrong but got a feeling that it'll be SSK and BARB tracks (Birds, Starlings, Tower Crane Driver, Mirrorball, High Ideals) that get dropped to make way for new songs in the set, so there just MIGHT be room for an older track (or two). Who knows? (yet)

holmes wrote:

Might be totally wrong but got a feeling that it'll be SSK and BARB tracks (Birds, Starlings, Tower Crane Driver, Mirrorball, High Ideals) that get dropped to make way for new songs in the set, so there just MIGHT be room for an older track (or two). Who knows? (yet)

I would expect The Birds & Mirrorball would escape the axe... but like you i may be totally wrong!   

I hear the string quartet have not been asked on the tour, so either they're going to use someone else (unlikely),  they will use tapes (surely not) or radically change the set (hopefully!)

Fair play on what's already been said.

The saving grace with elbow is at least they ARE innovative and constantly reviewing what they create. Fingers crossed they do mix it up a bit on the next live run... Whether it's long lost old faves, obscure album tracks or just something different every night of the tour, it's going to be appreciated.

Happy days.

I'm sure a lot of time would be saved if Guy doesn't ask the crowd if we're okay after every song...   

boy wrote:

I'm sure a lot of time would be saved if Guy doesn't ask the crowd if we're okay after every song...   

I aint got a problem with that mate - it's the incessant arm waving and asking the crowd to repeat parts of songs before the song commences.   

Yup, many of you have expressed a lot of the same things I'm feeling just now. I don't expect the band to ignore their promotional duties RE: the new material. But at this point, particularly here in the States, it's safe to say that most of the fans who will be at the shows are not just discovering them. We're folks who have been here for a little while, and who have an abiding love for many of the songs and albums from the past. So if there was a wider mix of songs included this time around, that would be phenomenal.

Of course, I sometimes wonder if the band are just not sure of themselves with some of the older stuff, performance-wise. It was material that called for a more intense vibe than the stuff they're doing lately, and maybe they simply aren't in that zone anymore. We all love the way certain songs sounded on the albums, or when we saw them live in the early days (for those of you who were lucky enough to catch them live back then!), but maybe they're thinking that they can't re-create those moments in quite the same way now. I don't really know what the reason may be, but this is one possibility I've considered.

At the very least, if they still can't find room for some older material alongside the current offerings on this tour, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a greatest hits album sometime in the future, and that they'll tour behind that, in a show that spans their songbook from the beginning to the most recent stuff. It would give them a good excuse to dust some relics off for us old-timers, and that would be EPIC.

heshofcheese wrote:

I hear the string quartet have not been asked on the tour, so either they're going to use someone else (unlikely),  they will use tapes (surely not) or radically change the set (hopefully!)

Which tracks require jote & the gang? I recall they dropped them for the leaders tour, but that was cause V2 couldn't afford them... I doubt that's a problem... As they can't drop one day they'll have to use tape?

So wouldn't be sad if one day is gone... (Tin hat on!)

boy wrote:

I'm sure a lot of time would be saved if Guy doesn't ask the crowd if we're okay after every song...   

I remember their first gig I saw in 2001 when guy asked this in between every song almost, I thought it was nerves - turns out its 'thing'

My Bury Vest wrote:

boy wrote:

I'm sure a lot of time would be saved if Guy doesn't ask the crowd if we're okay after every song...   

I aint got a problem with that mate - it's the incessant arm waving and asking the crowd to repeat parts of songs before the song commences.   

Agree 100% mate. Don't think i noticed as much until you listen back to the jodrell gig audio... I guess we have give guy his moment in the sun though, that Q interview suggests he rather likes audience participation time...

ChrissieInFL wrote:

Of course, I sometimes wonder if the band are just not sure of themselves with some of the older stuff, performance-wise. It was material that called for a more intense vibe than the stuff they're doing lately, and maybe they simply aren't in that zone anymore.  

I think you may be onto something... I do wonder if some of the older stuff hasn't aged well to their ears? It's hardly unique to elbow mind, Kings of Leon apparently hate most of their first two albums, which ironically is the stuff their core cult fans love most... Thankful elbow have yet to go as MOR as KoL have...

errant wrote:

I think you may be onto something...  I do wonder if some of the older stuff hasn't aged well to their ears?  It's hardly unique to elbow mind, Kings of Leon apparently hate most of their first two albums, which ironically is the stuff their core cult fans love most...  Thankful elbow have yet to go as MOR as KoL have...

That's the thing. Maybe those earlier songs have a different significance or sound to the band, at this point, than they have to the fans. Their more recent work is the result of years of growth and experience, and they may well be happier to perform them at this moment in time than to perform the "oldies" from the first few albums. Again, I am only speculating and I have no actual clue WHAT they think about doing the older songs, but I'm just suggesting that there may be a reason we don't hear them so much anymore. In any case, I would still love to hear some of the older stuff when I go to see them, but I will certainly enjoy the show no matter what - especially if the new songs are as good as the write-ups they're getting in the press would suggest.

heshofcheese wrote:

I hear the string quartet have not been asked on the tour, so either they're going to use someone else (unlikely),  they will use tapes (surely not) or radically change the set (hopefully!)

listening to them on lauren laverne this morning they got strings for the tour, and a brass section... maybes its different players? no more jote et al perhaps?

Yes i heard them on 6 Music today too, new songs were quite good, still not what i would call innovative but i will look forward to seeing them being played live and of course promoting a new album i would expect that but i still think they should play a fair selection from all of their back catalogue as well, i have thought about their reasons for not doing so but i still can't see things like not being into that zone at the moment etc being good enough reasons, all bands get fed up of playing old songs but it doesn't stop them, i've seen countless gigs by lots of bands with back catalogue's bigger than Elbow's, for example, U2 on their last tour played about 3 or 4 songs from their first album at each gig, as well as stuff from all other albums which is a considerably bigger back catalogue than Elbow. Maybe during the BARB tour they did want to concentrate on pleasing their new fans, concentrating mainly on TSSK and BARB songs, that was then, i believe it's now time to move on and not forget the fans who followed them from the beginning and also not forget how critically acclaimed their early stuff was. Only time will tell i suppose lol but if it's more of the same as the last few tours have thrown up then i will be another one who will have to consider in future whether or not to bother paying £30 or £40 to see them again.

Having read all the comments on this thread I have tendency to agree with all. Although I loved the Jodrell Bank gig I cringe when I listen to it with all the audience participation taking up a huge chunk of the dvd. Hopefully a new venture will see guy playing the guitar once again and some oldies from the early days. I profess I only started to follow since 2008 but I too prefer their first three albums.

Having read set lists so far I've got to say I'm very disappointed that yet again their earlier stuff has been ignored, yes more people got into Elbow after TSSK but does that mean you ignore previous material? I don't think so. Many people and a fair few critics would say that AITB is their finest album and I would not disagree. Going to the Nottingham gig and expecting a miracle, a career spanning set list.

Jason wrote:

Having read set lists so far I've got to say I'm very disappointed that yet again their earlier stuff has been ignored, yes more people got into Elbow after TSSK but does that mean you ignore previous material? I don't think so. Many people and a fair few critics would say that AITB is their finest album and I would not disagree. Going to the Nottingham gig and expecting a miracle, a career spanning set list.

I heard an interview on 6Music yesterday where in Guy's words, talking about the tour, 'they were keen to hold on to the success Seldom gave them' (in as many words), now that can be translated in more than one way, but it's clear to me, and from some other information I've had, that it means playing to the post TSSK punters.

In Liverpool tomorrow, I'll be having a good few drinks and look forward to hearing the new material which is really, really good. Just a shame, Great Expectations apart, there will be fuck all else for the 'older' fans to enthuse about. At least then everyone goes home 'fulfilled' ?

My mate who's seen Elbow countless times since COT, reckons it's his 'Elbow live swansong' tomorrow, had enough of the setlist disappointments and Guy trying to be Freddie Mercury  

Talking about set lists, looking at them for this tour, so far they've been the same at every venue. Would have thought they could have mixed it up a bit.